It's outrageous to be cut by tulips

What is more likely to be disillusioned than Deng Ziqi's "Bubble"? The answer is: China's A-shares. Although it is a joke, once the economic bubble bursts, it will have an uncontrollable impact on human production and life.

The concept of stocks was first proposed by the Dutch, and the first stock crisis the Dutch experienced was the tulip bubble.

Image source: pexels

01

A flower caused a stock market crash

The Dutch introduced tulips from Türkiye as early as 1593. After 1600, a virus broke out in Dutch gardens, causing many tulips to become diseased.

At this time, the Dutch, who had a keen sense of the market, discovered: Hey, the diseased tulips seemed to be more beautiful, rarer and more valuable.

As the price of tulip bulbs became higher and higher with each resale, the clever Dutch saw the business opportunity and cultivated hundreds of new varieties through diseased tulips.

Image source: Wikipedia

At that time, the price of tulips was so high that three bulbs could buy a house. Due to the low planting cost and the high probability of planting rare varieties, many ordinary people also joined the tulip craze.

Soon, the supply of tulips in the market went from being in short supply to being in excess of demand. There was no one to buy a large number of tulips, and the price fell rapidly, finally to 1% of the peak price. Those who held a large number of tulip bulbs turned from rich men to paupers overnight.

Image source: Wikipedia

The Dutch tulip bubble, the British South Sea bubble, and the French Mississippi bubble are known as the three major bubbles in modern Europe.

02

What makes tulips change color?

Tulips infected with the virus are so popular because the virus causes the flowers to develop flame-like yellow stripes, making the tulips look particularly alluring.

This virus is called Tulip breaking virus (TBV), also translated as broken color virus. It is a plant virus of the genus Potatovirus in the family Potyviridae.

Diseased tulips, Image source: Wikipedia

In addition to tulip streak virus, there is also a tulip soft rot (also known as mosaic disease), which can also change the color of tulips. It is widely distributed and can even cause complex infections with tulip streak virus, making the colors of flowers more brilliant.

Image source: pexels

Tulips infected with soft rot can develop yellow streaked spots on leaves and dark spots on petals. The virus can also corrode branches and leaves, and with the help of certain vector insects, the virus can be further spread.

The unique temperament of tulips has allowed it to gain a firm foothold in the flower market and has also been sought after by many flower lovers. Not only are they more expensive than some flowers, but the cut flowers also need to be carefully "cared for" after being brought home, otherwise they will easily scatter.

03

There are also flowers that do not change color when they are infected

Even with careful cultivation by caring businessmen, not all tulips infected with leaf streak virus will change color; some can still maintain their pure color.

The reason why the tulip streak virus can form complex and exquisite stripes is that the virus plays a vital role in the synthesis of anthocyanins. Diseased cells cannot accumulate anthocyanins, which is why we see all kinds of colors and stripes today.

For white and yellow flowers that do not produce anthocyanins, even if they are infected with the virus, no special stripes will appear. Because there is no anthocyanin synthesis process that can be disturbed in these flowers, they can always maintain their pure color.

END

Review expert: Shi Jun, PhD in Botany.

Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Xiao Xitushuo